Thirty-foot corn head.
Diesel engine rumbling hard enough to vibrate the temporary event signs.
Three HOA volunteers stood beside the ticket tent filming with their phones.
Trish had disappeared.
Probably to find a judge.
Probably to find a lawyer.
Probably to find anyone willing to tell her that confidence could substitute for ownership.
At 4:52, Deputy Holloway arrived.
He stepped from his cruiser, adjusted his hat, and stared at the tents.
“What in God’s name happened here?”
“You buy tickets?”
He looked at me.
Then laughed.
“I saw the Facebook ad. Thought you’d finally lost your mind.”
“I wasn’t invited.”
His laughter stopped.
I showed him the document.
Then the signature.
Then the date.
Ben read it twice.
“You were overseas then.”
“Yep.”
He looked toward Cedar Ridge.
“You want to make a report?”
“Absolutely.”
“You want them removed?”
“Yes, but carefully. Vendors can collect equipment. Volunteers can leave. Nobody touches farm machinery or crop.”
